Brick kiln pollution and its impact on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackgroundBrick kiln emissions adversely affect air quality and the health of workers and individuals living near the kilns; however, evidence of the impacts of brick kiln pollution remains limited.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of brick kiln pollution (emissions, source contributions and personal exposures) and its effects on health. We extracted articles from electronic databases and through manual citation searching. We estimated pooled, sample-size-weighted means and standard deviations for personal exposures by job type; computed mean emission factors and pollutant concentrations by brick kiln design; and meta-analyzed differences in means or proportions for health outcomes between brick kiln workers (BKWs) and controls or for participants living near or far away from kilns.ResultsOur search yielded 1015 articles; 208 (20%) were assessed for eligibility and 101 (10%) were included in our review. We identified three additional studies through manual searching. Of 104 studies, 74 (71%) were conducted in South Asia. The most evaluated pollutants were particulate matter (PM; n=48), sulfur dioxide (SO2; n=24) and carbon monoxide (CO; n=22), and the most evaluated health outcomes were respiratory health (n=34) and musculoskeletal disorders (n=9). PM and CO emissions were higher among traditional than improved brick kilns. Mean respirable silica exposures were only measured in 4 (4%) studies and were as high as 620 μg/m3, exceeding the NIOSH recommended exposure limit by a factor of over 12. BKWs had consistently worse lung function, more respiratory symptoms, more musculoskeletal complaints, and more inflammation when compared to unexposed participants across studies; however, most studies had a small sample size and did not fully describe methods used for sampling or data collection.DiscussionOn average, BKWs had worse health outcomes when compared to unexposed controls but study quality supporting the evidence was low. Few studies reported silica concentrations or personal exposures, but the few that did suggest that exposures are high. Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between brick kiln pollution and health among workers, and to evaluate exposure mitigation strategies.